THE British Home Office issued a new Operational Guidance Note for Zimbabwean asylum seekers this week.
The Operational Guidance Notes are operational guidance for the caseworkers at the Home Office who make decisions in asylum cases. The OGN defines the Home Office policy on what categories of people from different countries will qualify for asylum – the biggest factor in being granted or denied asylum at first instance.
The new operational guidance note deals with the current situation in Zimbabwe and the recent developments in relation to the power sharing agreement between Zanu PF and the two MDC factions.
The OGN recognises that political violence has continued and that there has been an intensification of the campaign against white farmers with arrests and farm invasions on the increase. It is further noted that teachers have experienced intimidation and harassment on attempting to return to work.
More critically, the new OGN rejects the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal’s central finding in the RN (Returnees) Zimbabwe CG [2008] UKAIT 00083.
The Home Office says: “Although deplorable, a significant feature of the human rights abuses that are occurring now is that they have been for reasons other than those which led the AIT to conclude that those who were unable to demonstrate loyalty to Zanu PF would generally be at risk.
“The evidence of the past six months or so, therefore, no longer supports the contention that Zimbabweans are at risk merely because they would be unable to show support for Zanu PF (and there have been instances where Zanu PF supporters have been harassed or hurt, especially if perceived to have ‘betrayed’ the regime). A grant of asylum solely on this basis will not therefore usually be appropriate.”
This is a strong repudiation of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal’s central finding in RN (Returnees) Zimbabwe CG [2008] UKAIT 00083 that all those unable to demonstrate loyalty to Zanu PF are generally at risk if returned to Zimbabwe, and should, therefore, be considered for refugee status.
There are still categories that the Home Office accept may be refugees, such as political activists, human rights defenders, members of civil society, and those in sensitive professions such as journalists and teachers.
The Home Office argument is essentially that the situation has changed since RN. RN is still a country guidance case, though, so it will be for the Home Office to show that it should not be followed at Appeal hearings.
Home Office Presenting Officers will need to produce country information to show that RN is now wrong and the situation has changed.
In one of my cases heard on Wednesday, the Home Office sought to argue that the situation in Zimbabwe had significantly changed since the decision in RN and argued that in light of the new OGN, our case should fail.
Counsel argued that RN remained the country guidance and supersedes the Operational Guidance Note. Our other argument was that the Operational Guidance Note is only guidance for the Home Office and is inferior to case law.
The Judges are, therefore, bound by the case law unless the Home Office can convincingly argue that the case law is no longer relevant. We will need to wait to see what the judge will decide in that respect.
What next now for people who have lodged fresh claims or new asylum claims?
It is highly likely that the Home Office will refuse the application if based soley on the decision in RN and applicants will be given a right of appeal. With the fast moving political situation in Zimbabwe, there is no way that one can tell what the situation will be when the time to hear such appeals comes.
This does not mean that all people who have made a fresh claim or a new asylum claim will automatically be refused but certainly, we will start to see more refusals coming through from the Home Office. Again, it is imperative that people who may be affected by this new operational guidance note should seek legal advice as each case will be decided on its merits.
There is no indication that removals will be resumed to Zimbabwe and it appears that the policy in that regard remains the same.
Rumbidzai Bvunzawabaya is a Solicitor at RBM Solicitors based in Coventry. She can be contacted at info@rbmsolicitors.co.uk or telephone: 02476520999
Your prayers should be for Jehova to open the doors for you in your own country and to help you make your own country better and not to keep on knocking and enforcing yourself in other people’s country.
Some MDC activists in the country and abroad who have survived ten years of persecution in the fight for democracy must be declared war vets and those multitudes of comrades who lost their lives at ZANU PFs hands must be declared heroes of the struggle for democracy.
An MDC WAR VETS ASSOCITION must be formed ASAP.O
Ladies and gentlemen the Word of God can produce results, just like fear can produce results too. There is no doubt about that. So if someone is bringing the power of God into their application, let it be as this will help them not get into depression etc. (result No.1) as long as they have profound Faith. People should understand that there is more to it than just that. It is not stupid – Ideologies of God are not stupid, I repeat.
What is stupid is to go and tell Home Office lies about your living mum and dad being dead back home and then try to bring God into the equation. Kwete! Hazvipindirani. Mira muzvokwadi and God will take over.
rubbish nesvimwari svenyu. u can only buy time, but hey, u cannot buy time 4eva. zvichapera by ginya, usingadi-uchida. cushion against the impending disgrace, if u choose 2 b wise
Zimbabwe our zimbabwe. mugabe is still there and his people are still in key areas, up to until they have been removed, then its a safe place for democracy to operate. We cry with those who have lots relative at the hands of men who want to clive to power whilst the poor zimbabwean sufer. we are tax payers and have a right as to who should govern and rule us. we made a decision and it was refused by Zanu. MDC we respect, as the party has chosen to be to put people’s live first. many ndebele people died we all know, should this be repeated, no i say no.
zimbabwe will change but not soon. ZANU must go and MDC will bring back zimbabwe on the map.
We need to pray for our country if we really want to see change. I beleive this is a season. A bad and dry season but the only way now is up.
God Bless
Certificates of Approval
Posted by freemovement on 22 April 2009
Just a quick post to highlight the fact that charges are no longer made by the Home Office for Certificate of Approval applications. The other old requirements to get Certificates of Approval still apply and are covered in an old post on this blog. This is relatively old news as the change was announced on 9 April 2009 applying with immediate effect.
I have railed before against the Home Office’s systematic disregard for the rule of law and inaction over cases they lose. What I only just found out about the Certificates of Approval change is that it was forced on the Home Office by yet more litigation. Someone (I’m not sure who) challenged the failure to respect the judgment of the House of Lords in Baiai, and the Home Office have conceded the case. Abandoning charging was apparently part of the consent order.
The Home Office announcement says that the Certificate of Approval policy is under review and hints that those who paid the fee may have it refunded. Keep watching the Home Office website for details.
I sometimes wonder if the Home Office secretly love immigration lawyers and like to make unnecessary work for us. They are currently forcing the development of a whole new area of satellite litigation: cases to force the Home Office to respect and implement old cases they already lost.
Certificates of Approval
Changes to the Certificate of Approval Scheme
Latest News
09 April 2009
With effect from 9 April 2009 the UK Border Agency is suspending the fee for Certificate of Approval applications. This means that individuals making an application for a Certificate of Approval on or after this date will not be required to pay the fee.
The fee has been suspended in order to comply with the House of Lords judgment in the case of Baiai v the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
The UK Border Agency is carefully considering the implications for those who have already paid a fee and will shortly announce its policy in this respect.
ah, kunzima webaba. so are yu telling me that my country that i love so much is full of liars except me. well, i dont believe bonke abaqamba amanga e asylum bazoya e gehena, i think god knows why, as abraham became a man after god’s heart, so is evryone who did it for survival. at least if yu are alive yu will repent but if yu die of hunger in zim, ungathuka utixo and yu are doomed forever.
can l just say one thing for those of you the so called failed assylum seekers, can you give us a break and go back to Zim. your cases were never genuine if they were then you shouldn’t be in this situation. MATOFO , you shoud have used your opportunity wisely. l wish you leave sooner than later coz you are so difficult and full of yourself there is no danger in zim Mugabe and Tswangirai are no mates they now drink tea together so what are you people afraid of .GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
ndimi vanhu anonzi vanemamhepo chaiwo! i will not read anymore of your nonsense. i will not die a slave in this country like you. i am determined to free myself and go home. you lousy buggers will die here in a nursing home where you will starve to death and eat your own shit. god send us here for a reason, to appreciate who we are and take advantage of good free education so we can go back home and rebuilt our zimbabwe. to idiots like you i say ciao. you will remain slaves.
aita chake ndihombarume. munhu wese ngaaite zvaada ende paadira. chinokurwadza handichione.
NDIZVO ZVAMUNOGONA CHETE MAZIMBA ZVEKUDA KUTENGESANA NDIMI MAIPISWA MIROMO MUHONDO.SAKA MUSINGA BUDIRIRE. SAKA MWARI ACHIKUPEDZAI NEAIDS(HIV).MUNOROYANA. TARISAI ZVINOITA MANIGER KUBATSIRSNA….MURIMBWA DZEVANHU KUNYANYA IWE RUVARASHE UNOFANIRA KUNZI RUVA RAMUGABE
back to the ruvarashe or the devil’s flower she z just a biatch frm the mugabe regime jus let it buck lyk a dog biatch jus go an dburn in hell together with yo zanu stupid
wats wrong with us zimbabweans?we all came here because of maproblems.wane zvakawanakira wariko kuzim.saka imi musiri marefugee madii madzokera kumusha izvo muchiti kwanaka.munoenderei muchidzoka.
I am very saddened and shocked to read some of the comments from one Zimbo to another. It sounds like hatred and animosity that you usually find with vakadzi vakatorerana murume. Ko iko kusvotesana zvako! maZimba takaoma. For those who have faith, Itii Mwari vatiwanirewo nyasha!!! Kudzidza kana kusadzidza kwemunhu wat does that affect you? Kana wako upenyu huchikufambira.. makeke, ko zvekuti vepanext door vabuda muwena iwe uchibuda mu mansion zvinokurwadzei? Life is meant to be like that. Tese tingapere kuita madoctor torapa ani? If we all own bus companies, who will be the passengers? Ma bussiness angareve chinhu here if everyone owns one? The issue about people who lie…if your faith, your conscience,your ambuya or whatever does not permit you to lie, good for you and whatever benefits you get from it..maybe it means going to heaven after you die. But for someone else, they would rather go to hell after death than live in hell now when they are still alive!!!!( thats me included) We all have our different beliefs and we cannot impose them on others and at the same time, people also do things for different reasons. Im sure most of us saw the documentary on Zimbabwe’s forgotten children a few weeks ago…Im sure a majority of the people featured on it, given the chance to come here, would lie through their teeth to save their skin if they had to coz they know wat hell on earth means. Some people have lived that life before coming to the UK although Ive noticed when people talk, everyone had a rosy background be4 coming here. Maybe they all did we never know. As for the other issue which keeps cropping up about madofo…kana munhu akakwanisa kupinda pa Heathrow ne Gatwick (nemanyepo), agozotsvaga nzira dzekushanda asina magwaro (manyepo futi) managing to look after their family and extended family, then hakuna njere dzakapfuura ipapo futi because kutorarama. Its obviously not the ideal situation…no one likes to live like a hunted animal inomwa mvura yakasimudza nzeve nemaziso kutarisira the enemy, in this case their fellow Zimbabweans before even immigration yacho!!! ANd then kune vasina chikoro ( like myself) not because MADOFO as people keep saying, but the opportunity was not there…to make it clearer, panga pasina anokwanisa kubvisa mari yechikoro yet I know I am very intelligent. (Am now trying to utilise the resources that are now available to me as a result of iko kunyepa to better myself so maybe tsuro yemubhuku one day haizongomhanya panovhurwa page chete.If I become a doctor through lying to get magwaro anoita kuti ndakukwanisa kuenda kuchikoro muno, will I be different from any other basa randinopihwa etc plus mari yangu inouya yakanyorwa here kuti “Lied to get Here”. And dont tell me zve conscience..to me it will still be an achievement handizombozvirota zvese izvo! I strongly urge those vakawana ugaro hwavo nekumira pachokwadi chete to concentrate on and enjoy what they have while it lasts and those who dont have to keep striving to get. Ko pane abirwa here? I’ve come across some stories in the tabloids about some people who have got what they have legitimately yet one day they wake up being stripped of everything( im not saying this to get at anyone or like a threat)…e.g people in the health and social care sector: someone has just walked into work and been accused of abusing a client/makes a fatal drug error. These are things which are beyond our control and can happen to the best of us. So can we please not judge each other or throw missiles at each other. Enjoy what You have and if you cannot or do not have any compassion for your fellow Zimbos then just keep it to yourself instead of adding insults to people who are struggling to also make it why should it be your problem? Paper or no paper I think the standard of life or achievements that most people have is the same. One LOVE my Zimbo Brothers and sisters. Dont be haters. And remember this site is accessible to everyone from every nationality, if they read our comments here then judge us harshly tozoti vanoti MA Zimba akati. Im sure we are better than that. LOve you all. Even vanonyepa!!Its not your fault..U just had to do wat u had to do. If others dont like it tough they aint in yo shoes. Keep on keep keeping on.
Being gay is hated by nearly all Zimbos so that should be acceted as AT RISK of bodily damage on being found out.
People like Ruvarashe, Saina, Chii chacho…dont ever read the newspaper muchinzwa nyaya dzaana Myra Hyndley, Venebles, Ian Huntley etc and judge them kuti they are evil, coz from the way you speak you sound like you have moyo yakafanana neyavolike mapsychopaths. U are probably vatengesi as well. May the devil have mercy on you…by releasing you from his clutches
you are not ruvarashe but ripendzi ukuitwa unomira pa roof yemba kuyimba kuti munuwose azive kuti waitwa bhenzi ndiwe. Abaka mthwazi omuhle bathi dlana uthule meememeee nebhonzo mumuromo bhenzi ndiwe unodzipwa. I think vamkoma missed you either you were in Salsbury ulahla umlenze like u are doing here. You are stupid not to realise that mismanagent of economy by those in the authority as your dad robert and gono with the help of your mother florence chitauro to rule by starving and fear causes reason for people subjected to such inhuman treatment to seek asylum.
Its a pity my leader chibwe chitedza kanyongolo is no more. uyu anemsoro muhombe hanafungo he is gud as a tea boy nyangwe mudara sekuru vachidvisa moya iye unotenda achiwombera yenda uno ita basa rokuvagezisa va ndizwa unogona maningi bhenzi i bhenzi nyangwe kumadaka unorara.
Bhenzi i Bhenzi you are right vanamkoma missed her ruvarokutengasa dayi vamupisa muromo kungo vura pesepese anorwara manyoka emanzwi pamuromo kamutengesi mind your business mani. stay here for life wopedzisira ku home isu tawana zwatoda todzokera kwa Gutu paruseva and enjoy ubuntu labomkhulu. Zobohla manyosi
ini ndinovenga vanhu vanoti kana vachienda kumusha vovhaira. inini ndinokwanisa kuenda i am not being jelous but the way pple say things is just frustrating. kuti wakawana mapepa sei hazvina basa munhu wese chaanoda kugara zvakanaka pasina zvechipoko. vachiri kuzama mapepa musanete uye dont be scared of what these pple say. they have got full of i know what is going on in zim and uk. crazy stuff. mazimba utsinye kunge smith ndiyo problem yenyu. ini ndinoenda kumusha and there is no freedom of speech from hre airport until udzoke. saka chamunoti zimbabwe iri safe chii. musaita semapenzi. kana wagara munyika ine freedom of expression, speech woenda kuzimbo u cant say what u want and imimi moti zvinoita, kupenga ikoko. uye why muchida kuti vamwe vaende vasina mapepa kuti vasakwanisa kudzoka. imi munawo why are you coming back kana zimba iri bhoo. how can someone who have bn in uk for 10yrs know what si going on in zombabwe except 2nd hand information. vhairai vanhuwe inguva yenyu.
vamwe vane mapepa from 2002 asi nanhasi vanoita rese rese coz mapudzi anowira kune vasina hari. these are some of the pple who say zimbo ndizvo becoz they are ignorant.
anyway umwe neumwe anoita zvaanoda but lets respect each other not slugging off coz mune paper or not. mapepa amunawo inyasha dzamwari kwete kugona kwenyu kutaura saka dzikamai munamatire vasina vawanewo.
well said kushata , wagona chose , vanhu vanoti kana vachikwanisa kuenda ku zimbabwe voita kunge vari kuenda kudenga , imi wee mwari nde we munhu wese .
vanhuwe maasylum haawanikwe kumhuka anowanikwa kuvanhu saka kana wapihwa mapepa haikona kuita kunge wapihwa passport yekuenda kudenga mhani .hapana akasenga england urimuasylum kana kuti urichiimuno chakakosha ndechekuti urikurarama vakawanda murikutodamapepa acho bt l’m surprised nevanhu vakaita sana ruvarashe vanongorotomoka.saka vasina mapepa pamberi nekuseeker hapana chekumirira dnt listen zvivanhu zvakaita sana ruvarashe………..
THE ASYLUM SCAM NEEDS TO BE EXPOSED…FAKE MDC SUPPORTERS FAKE ROHR ACTIVISTS WHO CARE NOTHING ABOUT THE NATION BUT THEMSELVES…YOU CAME HERE THINKING YOU WOUKD GO BACK HOME WITHIN A SHORT TIME AND SHOW OFF, HANZI “VACHANDIONA” YEARS LATER YOU ARE STILL HERE CLAIMING THAT YOUR HOUSE WAS BURNT DOWN/I WAS RAPED..WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN ACHIEVE IN 5 YEARS WHAT YOU FAILED TO ACHIEVE SINCE YOU GOT HERE…HANDITI BASA RAKANGE RAREWHAWHWA NECHIHURE MUCHIVHAIRA NEMASTUDENT VISA LAUGHING AT US AS WE TRIED TO MOBILISE.GENUINE REFUGEES WALK IN AND OUT OFF IMMIGRATION WITH NO PROBLEMS, WE DIDNT EVEN NEED LAWYERS COZ OUR STORIES ARE TRUE..
Someone got pregnent in 2001 and they have a 9 year old child and you still ask the Home Office to continue with your claim. Yu were not working towards your case. Waiitei, kana usina kutenga umbrella musi wekunaya unfuga scud yawainwa. Endai
Kuda kunyaradzan endai